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t 




THE KING OF THE GOLDEN EIVER. 








^ fLesenli of Stiria. 


BY JOHN KUSKIN, M.A. 
-iP> 


Illustkatei) by Richard Doyle. 



PUBLISHIOD BY GINN & COMPANY. 

1885 . _ 


Oo 




ADVERTISEMENT. 


The Publishers think it due to the Author of this 
Fairy Tale, to state the circumstances under which it 
appears. 

The King of the Golden River was written in 
1841, at the request of a very young lady, and solely 
for her amusement, without any idea of publication. 
It has since remained in the possession of a friend, to 
whose suggestion, and the passive assent of the Author, 
the Publishers are indebted for the opportunity of 
printing it. 

The Illustrations, by Mr. Richard Doyle, will, it is 
hoped, be found to embody the Author’s ideas with 
characteristic spirit. . , . 

-Ml. 


J. S. Cushing & Co., Printers, Boston. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

How THE Aguicultural System of the Black Brothers 

WAS INTERFERED WITH BY SoUTH-WeST WiND, EsQUIRE 

CHAPTER 11. 

Of the Proceedings of the Three Brothers after the 
Visit of South-West Wind, Esquire; and how Little 
Gluck had an Interview with the King of the Golden 
River 


CHAPTER III. 

How Mr. Hans set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein . . . . 

CHAPTER lY. 

How Mr. Schwartz set off on an Expedition to the 
Golden Rivi:r, and how he prospered therein 

CHAPTER V. 

How Little Gluck set off on an Expedition to the 
Golden River, and how he prospered therein; with 
othe:r matters oi' interest ...... 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


DESIGNED AND DRAWN ON WOOD BY RICHARD DOYLE 


SUBJECTS. 

ENGRAVERS. 

PAGE 

South-West Wind, Esq., knocking at the 
Black Brothers’ door 

C. Thurston Thompson | 

Frontis- 

piece. 

The Treasure Valley . 

C. Thurston Thompson 

Title. 

Initial Letter, and Mountain Kange . . . 

(t. and E. Dalziel . 

. 9 

South-West Wind, Esq., seated on the hob 

G. and E. Dalziel . 

. 18 

South-West Wind, Esq., bowing to the 
Black Brothers 


. 21 

Storm Scene 


. 25 

Card of South-West Wind, Esq 

H. Orrin Smith . 

. 27 

Initial Letter, and Cottage in tlie Treasure 
Valley 

Isabel Thompson . 

. 28 

The Black Brothers drinking and Gluck 
working 

a. S. Cheltnam . . . 

. 50 

Gluck looking out at the Golden liiver 

H. D. Linton .... 

. 32 

The Golden Dwarf appearing to Gluck 

G. and E. Dalziel . . 

. 36 

Gluck looking up the Chimney .... 

H. Orrin Smith . . 

. 39 

The Black Brothers beating Gluck . . . 

C. 8. Cheltnam . . . 

. 40 

Hans and Schwartz fighting 

H. Orrin Smith . 

. 41 

Schwartz before the Magistrate .... 

C. 8. Cheltnam . . . 

. 42 

Hans and the Dog 


. 47 

Tlie Black Stone 


. 50 

Initial Letter — Gluck releasing Schwartz 

G. and E. Dalziel . 

. 51 

Schwartz ascending the Mountain . . . 

H. Orrin Smith . . . 

. 53 

Initial Letter — Gluck ascending tlie 
Mountain 

11. Orrin Smith . . . 

. 5() 

Priest giving Gluck Holy Water .... 

G. and E. Dalziel . . 

. 57 

Gluck and the Child 


. 59 


i 


THE 


KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER; 


OR, 


THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER I. 

t 

Mow THE Agricultural System of the Black Brothers was 

INTERFERED WITH BY SoUTH-WeST WiND, EsQUIRE. 



' ^ PM 


A secluded and mountainous part 
of Stiria there was, in old time, a 
valley of the most surprising and 
luxuriant fertility. It was sur- 
rounded, on all sides, by steep and 
I rocky mountains, rising into peaks, which were always 
covered with snow, and from which a number of tor- 
rents descended in constant cataracts. One of these 


10 


THE KING OE THE GOLDEN RIVER ; 


fell westward, over the face of a crag so high, thaj 
when the sun had set to everything else, and all below 
was darkness, his beams still shone full upon this waters 
fall, so that it looked like a shower of gold. It was, 
therefore, called by the people of the neighbourhood, 
the Golden River. It was strange that none of these 
streams fell into the valley itself. They all descended 
on the other side of the mountains, and wound away 
through broad plains and by populous cities. But the 
clouds were drawn so constantly to the snowy hills, and 
rested so softly in the circular hollow, that in timei 
of drought and heat, when all the country round was 

f. 

burnt up, there was still rain in the little valley; and 
its crops were so heavy, and its hay so high, and its 
apples so red, and its grapes so blue, and its wine so 
rich, and its honey so sweet, that it was a marvel to 
every one who beheld it, and was commonly called 
the Treasure Valley. 

The whole of this little valley belonged to three 
brothers, called Schwartz, Hans, and Gluck. Schwartz 
and Hans, the two elder brothers, were very ugly men, 
with over-hanging eyebrows and small dull eyes, which 
were always half shut, so that you couldn’t see into 
them^ and always fancied they saw very far into you. 
They lived by farming the Treasure Valley, and very! 
good farmers they were. They killed everything that 
did not pay for its eating. They shot the blackbirds, 
because they pecked the fruit ; and killed the hedgehogs, 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


11 


lest they should suck the cows ; they poisoned the crickets 
i‘or eating the crumbs in the kitchen; and smothered 
the cicadas, which used to sing all summer in the lime 
trees. They Avorked their servants without any wages, 

I till they would not work any more, and then quarrelled 
Avith them, and turned them out of doors Avithout pay- 
ing them. It Avould have been very odd, if Avith such 
a farm, and such a system of farming, they hadn’t got 
very rich; and very rich they did get. They generally 
contrived to keep their corn by them till it was very 
I dear, and then sell it for twice its value ; they had 
I heaps of gold lying about on their floors, yet it was 
■ never known that they had given so much as a penny 
or a crust in charity ; they never Avent to mass ; grum- 
bled perpetually at j)aying tithes ; and were, in a word, 
of so cruel and grinding a temper, as to receive from 
all those with whom they had any dealings, the nick- 
name of the “ Black Brothers.” 

The youngest brother, Gluck, was as completely 
opposed, in both appearance and character, to his seniors 
as could possibly be imagined or desired. He was not 
above tAvelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and kind in temper 
I to every living thing. He did not, of course, agree 
’ particularly well Avith his brothers, or rather, they did 
not agree with Mm. He Avas usually , appointed to the 
honourable office of turnspit, Avheii there Avas anything to 
roast, Avhich was not often ; for, to do the brothers justice, 
they Avere hardly less sparing upon themselves than upon 


12 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN HIVER ; 


other people. At other times lie used to clean the 
shoes, floors, and sometimes the plates, occasionally get- 
ting what was left on them, by way of encouragement, 
and a wholesome quantity of dry blows, by way of 
education. 

Things went on in this manner for a long time. At 
last came a very wet summer, and everything went 
wrong in the country around. The hay had hardly 
been got in, when the haystacks were floated bodily 
down to the sea by an inundation ; the vines were cut 
to pieces with the hail; the corn was all killed by a 
black blight;- only in the Treasure Valley, as usual, all 
was safe. As it had rain when there was rain no 
where else, so it had sun when there was sun no where 
else. Every body came to buy corn at the farm, 
and went away pouring maledictions on the Black 
Brothers. They asked what they liked, and got it, 
except from the poor people, who could only beg, and 
several of whom were starved at their very door, with- 
out the slightest regard or notice. 

It was drawing towards winter, and very cold 
weather, when one day the two elder brothers had 
gone out, with their usual warning to little Gluck, 
who was left to mind ..the roast, that he was to let 
nobody in, and give nothing out. Gluck sat down 
quite close to the Are, for it was raining very hard, 
and the kitchen walls were by no means dry or com- 
fortable looking. He turned and turned, and the ' roast 


OK, THE BLACK BKOTHEKS. 


13 


I got nice and brown. “What a pity,” thought Gluck, 
j “my brothers never ask any body to dinner. I’m sure, 
j when they’ve got such a nice piece of mutton as this, 
j and nobody else has got so much as a piece of dry 
I bread, it would do their hearts good to have some- 
I body to eat it with them.” 

j Just as he spoke, there came a double knock at the 
I house door, yet heavy and dull, as though the knocker 
I had been tied up — more like a puff than a knock. 

“It must be the wind,” said Gluck; “nobody else 
■ would venture to knock double knocks at our door.” 
i No; it wasn’t the wind: there it came again very 
I hard, and what was particularly astounding, the knocker 
i seemed to be in a hurry, and not to be in the least 
i afraid of the consequences. Gluck went to the win- 
dow, opened it, and put his head out to see who it was. 

It was the most extraordinary looking little gentle- 
man he had ever seen in his life. He had a very large 
nose, slightly brass-coloured ; his cheeks were very round, 
and very red, and might have warranted a supposition 
that he had been blowing a refractory fire for the last 
eight-and-forty hours ; his eyes twinkled merrily through 
long silky eyelashes, his moustaches curled twice round 
like a corkscrew on each side of his mouth, and his 
hair, of a curious mixed pepper-and-salt colour, de- 
scended far over his shoulders. He was about four feet 
six in height, and wore a conical pointed cap of nearly 
the same altitude, decorated with a black feather some 


14 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEll ; 


three feet long. His doublet was prolonged behind 
into something resembling a violent exaggeration of 
what is now termed a “ swallow tail,” but was much 
obscured by the swelling folds of an enormous black, 
glossy-looking cloak, which must have been very much 
too long in calm weather, as the wind, whistling round 
the old house, carried it clear out from the wearer’s 
shoulders to about four times his own length. 

Gluck was so perfectly paralyzed by the singular ap- 
pearance of his visitor, that he remained fixed without 
uttering a word, until the old gentleman, having per- 
formed another, and a more energetic concerto on the 
knocker, turned round to look after his fly-away cloak. 
In so doing he caught sight of Gluck’s little yellow 
head jammed in the window, with its mouth and eyes 
very wide open indeed. 

“ Hollo ! ” said the little gentleman, “ that’s not the 
way to answer the door ; I’m wet, let me in.” 

To do the little gentleman justice, he was wet. His 
feather hung down between his legs like a beaten 
puppy’s tail, dripping like an umbrella; and from the 
ends of his moustaches the water was running into his 
waistcoat pockets, and out again like a mill stream. 

“ I beg pardon, sir,” said Gluck, “ I’m very sorry, but 
I really can’t.” 

“ Can’t what ! ” said the old gentleman. 

‘‘ I can’t let you in, sir, — I can’t, indeed ; my brothers 
would beat me to death, sir, if I thought of such a 
thing. What do you want, sir?” 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 15 

“Want?” said the old gentleman, petulantly. “1 
want fire, and shelter ; and there’s jmur great fire there 
blazing, cracking, and dancing on the walls, Avith no- 
body to feel it. Let me in, I say ; I only Avant to 
Avarm myself.” 

Gluck had had his head, by this time, so long out of 
the AvindoAV, that he began to feel it Avas really nnpleas- 
antly cold, and AAdien he turned, and saAV the beautiful 
fire rustling and roaring, and throAving long bright 
tongues up the chimney, as if it Avere licking its chops 
at the savoury smell of the leg of mutton, his heart 
melted Avithin him that it should be burning away for 
nothing. “ He does look very Avet,” said little Gluck ; 
“ I’ll just let him in for a quarter of an hour.” Round 
he Avent to the door, and opened it; and as the little 
gentleman Avalked in, there came a gust of Avind 
through the house, that made the old chimneys totter. 

“That’s a good boy,” said the little gentleman. “Never 
mind your brothers. I’ll talk to them.” 

“Pray, sir, don’t do any such thing,” said Gluck. 
“ I can’t let you stay till they come ; . they’d be the 
death of me.” 

“Dear me,” said the old gentleman, “I’m very sorry 
to hear that. How long may I stay?” 

“ Only till the mutton’s done, sir,” replied Gluck, 
“and it’s very brown.” 

Then the old gentleman Avalked into the kitchen, 
and sat himself down on the hob, Avith the top of his 


16 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEK ; 


cap accomiiioclated up the chimney, for it was a greal 
deal too high for the roof. 

“You’ll soon dry there, sir,” said Gluck, and sal 



ping among the cinders, and the fire fizzed, and 
sputtered, and began to look very black, and uncom- 
fortable : never was such a cloak ; every fold in it ran 
like a gutter. 

“I beg pardon, sir,” said Gluck at length, after 
watching the water spreading in long, quicksilverlike 
streams over the floor for a quarter of an hour ; 
“mayn’t I take your cloak?” 

“No, thank you,” said the old gentleman. 

“Your cap, sir?” 



OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


17 


“I am all right, thank you,” said the old gentleman 
rather gruffly. 

“But, — sir, — I’m very sorry,” said Gluck, hesitat- 
ingly ; “ but — really, sir, — you’re — putting the fire 
out.” 

“It’ll take longer to do the mutton, then,” replied 
his visitor drily. 

Gluck was very much puzzled by the behaviour of 
his guest; it was such a strange mixture of coolness 
and humility. He turned away at the string medita- 
tively for another five minutes. 

“That mutton looks very nice,” said the old gentle- 
man at length. “Can’t you give me a little bit?” 

“Impossible, sir,” said Gluck. 

“I’m very hungry,” continued the old gentleman: 
“ I’ve had nothing to eat yesterday, nor to-day. They 
surely couldn’t miss a bit from the knuckle ! ” 

He spoke in so very melancholy a tone, that it quite 
melted Gluck’s heart. “They promised me one slice 
to-day, sir,” said he; “I can give you that, but not a 
bit more.” 

“That’s a good boy,” said the old gentleman again. 

Then ‘Gluck warmed a plate, and sharpened a knife. 
“I don’t care if I do get beaten for it,” thought he. 
Just as he had cut a large slice out of the mutton, 
there came a tremendous rap at the door. The old 
gentleman jumped off the hob, as if it had suddenly 
become inconveniently warm. Gluck fitted the slice 


18 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN IHVEK ; 


into the mutton again, with desperate efforts at exacti- 
tude, and ran to open the' door. 

“What did you keep us waiting in the rain for?” 
said Schwartz, as he walked in, throwing his umbrella 
in Gluck’s face. “ Ay I what for, indeed, you little 
vagabond?” said Hans, administering an educational 
box on the ear, as he followed his brother into the 
kitchen. 

“ Bless my soul ! ” said Schwartz when he opened the 
door. 



“Amen,” said the little gentleman, who had taken 
liis cap off, and was standing in the middle of the 
kitchen, bowing with the utmost possible velocity. 

“Wlio’s that?” said Schwartz, catching up a rolling- 
pin, and turning to Gluck with a fierce frown. 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


19 


“I don’t know, indeed, brother,” said Gluck in great 
terror. 

“How did he get in?” roared Schwartz. 

“ My dear brother,” said Gluck, deprecatingly, “ he 
was so very wet ! ” 

The rolling-pin was descending on Gluck’s head ; but, 
at the instant, the old gentleman interposed his conical 
cap, on which it crashed with a shock that shook the 
water out of it all over the room. What was very 
odd, the rolling-pin no sooner touched the cap, than it 
flew out of Schwartz’s hand, spinning like a straw in a 
high wind, and fell into the corner at the further end 
of the room. 

“Who are you, sir?” demanded Schwartz, turning 
upon him. 

“What’s your business?” snarled Hans. 

“I’m a poor old man, sir,” the little gentleman 
began very modestly, “and I saw your fire through 
the window, and begged shelter for a quarter of an 
hour.” 

“Have the goodness to walk out again, then,” said 
Schwartz. “We’ve quite enough water in our kitchen, 
without making it a drying house.” 

“It is a cold day to turn an old man out in, sir; 
look at my grey hairs.” They hung down to his 
shoulders, as I told you before. 

“Ay!” said Hans, “there are enough of them to 
keep you warm. Walk!” 


20 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN lilVER ; 


“I’m very, very hungry, sir; couldn’t you spare me 
a bit of bread before 1 go?” 

“Bread, indeed!” said Schwartz; “do you sui^pose 
we’ve nothing to do with our bread, but to give it to 
sucli red-nosed fellows as you ? ” 

“Why don’t you sell your feather?” said Hans, sneei- 
ingly. “ Out with you.” 

“ A little bit,” said the old gentleman. 

“ Be off I ” said Schwartz. 

“ Pray, gentlemen.” 

“ Off, and be hanged ! ” cried Hans, seizing him by the 
collar. But he had no sooner touched the old gentle- 
man’s collar, than away he went after the rolling-pin, 
spinning round and round, till he fell into the corner on 
top of it. Then Scliwartz was very angry, and ran at the 
old gentleman to turn him out; but he also had hardly 
touched him, when away he went after Hans and the 
rolling-pin, and hit his head against the wall as he tum- 
bled into the corner. And so there they lay, all three. 

Then the old gentleman spun himself round with 
velocity in the opposite direction ; continued to spin 
until his long cloak was all wound neatly about him ; 
clapped his cap on his head, very much on one side (for 
it could not stand upright without going through the 
ceiling), gave an additional twist to his corkscrew mous- 
taches, and replied with perfect coolness : “ Gentlemen, 
I wish you a very good morning. At twelve o’clock to- 
night I’ll call again ; after such a refusal of hospitality 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


21 


as I have just experienced, you will not be surprised if 
that visit is the last I ever pay you.” 

“ If ever I catch you here again,” muttered Schwartz, 
coming, half frightened, out of the corner — but, before 
he could finish his sentence, the old gentleman had shut 
the house door behind him with a great bang: and there 
drove past the window, at the same instant, a wreath of 
ragged cloud, that whirled and rolled away down the 
valley in all manner of shapes; turning over and over in 
the air ; and melting away at last in a gush of rain. 

“A very pretty business, indeed, Mr. Gluck!” said 
Schwartz. “ Dish the mutton, sir. If ever I catch you 
at such a trick again — bless me, why, the mutton’s been 
cut!” 

“You promised me one slice, brother, you know,” said 
Gluck. 

“ Oh ! and you were cutting it hot, I suppose, and going 
to catch all the gravy. It’ll be long before I promise you 
such a thing again. Leave the room, sir; and have the 
kindness to wait in the coal-cellar till I call you.” 

Gluck left the room melancholy enough. The brothers 
ate as much mutton as they could, locked the rest in the 
cupboard, and proceeded to get very drunk after dinner. 

Such a night as it was! Howling wind, and rushing 
rain, without intermission. The brothers had just sense 
enough left to put up all the shutters, and double bar the 
door, before they went to bed. They usually slept in 
the same room. As the clock struck twelve, they were 


22 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER; 


both awakened by a tremendous crash. Their door burst 
open with a violence that shook the house from top to 
bottom. 

“What’s that?” cried Schwartz, starting up in his 
bed. 



“ Only I,” said the little gentleman. 

The two brothers sat up on their bolster, and stared 
into the darkness. The room was full of water, and by 
a misty moon-beam, which found its way through a hole 
in the shutter, they could see in the midst of it an enor- 
mous foam globe, spinning round, and bobbing up and 
down like a cork, on which, as on a most luxurious 
cushion, reclined the little old gentleman, cap and all. 
There was plenty of room for it now, for the roof was off. 

“ Sorry to incommode you,” said their visitor, ironically. 
“ I’m afraid your beds are dampish ; perhaps you had 
better go to your brother’s room : I’ve left the ceiling 
on, there.” 


OK, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


23 


They required no second admonition, but rushed into 
Gluck's room, wet through, and in an agony of terror. 

“YouTl find my card on the kitchen table,” the old 
gentleman called after them. “ Remember, the last 
visit.” 

“ Pray Heaven it may ! ” said Schwartz, shuddering. 
And the foam globe disappeared. 

Dawn came at last, and the two brothers looked out of 
Gluck’s little window in the morning. The Treasure 
Valley was one mass of ruin and desolation. The inun- 
dation had swept away trees, crops, and cattle, and left in 
their stead, a waste of red sand and grey mud. The two 
brothers crept shivering and horror-struck into the kitchen. 
The water had gutted the whole first floor ; corn, money, 
almost every movable thing had been swept away, and 
there was left only a small white card on the kitchen 
table. On it, in large, breezy, long-legged letters, were 
engraved the words : — 



24 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KlVEii ; 


CHAPTER 11. 


Op the Proceedings of the Three Brothers after the Visit 
OF South-West Wind, Esquire; and how Little Gluck had 
AN Interview with the King of the Golden River. 




OUTH-WEST WIND, 
Esquire, was as good 
as liis word. After 
the momentous visit 
above related, he en- 
tered the Treasure 
Valley no more ; and, 
what was worse, he 
liad so much influence 
with his relations, the 
West Winds in gen- 
eral, and used it so 
effectually, that they 
all adopted a simi- 
lar line of conduct. 
So no rain fell in the valley from one year’s end 
to another. Though everything remained green and 

flourishing in the plains below, the inheritance of the 
Three Brothers was a desert. What had once -been the 
richest soil in the kingdom, became a shifting heap of red 



OK, THE BLACK BKOTHEKS. 


25 


sand ; and the brothers, unable longer to contend with 
the adverse skies, abandoned their valueless patrimony 
in despair, to seek some means of gaining a livelihood 
among the cities and people of the plains. All their 
money was gone, and they had nothing left but some 
curious old-fashioned pieces of gold plate, the last rem- 
nants of their ill-gotten wealth. 

“Suppose we turn goldsmiths?” said Schwartz to 
Hans, as they entered the large city. “It is a good 



knave’s trade ; we can put a great deal of copper into the 
gold, without any one’s finding it out.” 

The thought was agreed to be a very good one ; they 
hired a furnace, and turned goldsmiths. But two slight 
circumstances affected their trade : the first, that people 
did not approve of the coppered gold ; the second, that 
the two elder brothers, whenever they had sold anything, 
used to leave little Gluck to mind the furnace, and go 


26 


THE KING OF THE GOLDPjN RIVER; 


and drink out the money in the ale-house next door. So | 
they melted all their gold, without making money enough i 
to buy more, and were at last reduced to one large drink- 
ing mug, which an uncle of his had given to little Gluck, ! 
and which he was very fond of, and would not have parted j 
with for the world ; though he never drank anything out 
of it but milk and water. The mug was a very odd mug 
to look at. The handle was formed of two wreaths of 
flowing golden hair, so finely spun that it looked more 
like silk than metal, and these wreaths descended into, 
and mixed with, a beard and whiskers of the same ex- 
quisite workmanship, which surrounded and decorated a - 
very fierce little face, of the reddest gold imaginable, right 
in the front of the mug, with a pair of eyes in it which 
seemed to command its whole circumference. It was 
impossible to drink out of the mug without being sub- 
jected to an intense gaze out of the side of these eyes; and 
Schwartz positively averred, that once, after emptying it, 
full of Rhenish, seventeen times, he had seen them wink ! 
When it came to the mug’s turn to be made into spoons, 
it half broke poor little Gluck’s heart ; but the brotheis 
only laughed at him, tossed the mug into the melting-pot, 
and staggered out to the ale-house : leaving him, as usual, 
to pour the gold into bars, when it was all ready. 

When they were gone, Gluck took a farewell look at his 
old friend in the melting-pot. The flowing hair was all 
gone ; nothing remained but the red nose, and the spark- 
ling eyes, which looked more malicious than ever. 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


27 


“ And no wonder,” thought Giuck, ‘‘ after being treated 
in that way.” He sauntered disconsolately to the window, 
and sat himself down to catch the fresh evening air, and 
escape the hot breath of the furnace. Now this window 
commanded a direct view of the range of mountains, 
which, as I told you before, 
overhung the Treasure Val- 
ley, and more especially of 
the peak from which fell the 
Golden River. It was just 
at the close of the day, and, 
when Gluck sat down at the 
window, he saw the rocks of 
the mountain tops, all crim- 
son and purple with the 
sunset ; and there were bright tongues of fiery cloud burn- 
ing and quivering about them ; and the river, brighter 
than all, fell, in a waving column of pure gold, from 
precipice to precipice, with the double arch of a broad 
purple rainbow stretched across it, flushing and fading 
alternately in the wreaths of spray. 

“Ah!” said Gluck aloud, after he bad looked at it for 
a while, “if that river were really all gold, what a nice 
thing it would be.” 

“No, it wouldn’t, Gluck,” said a clear, metallic voice, 
close at his ear. 

“Bless me, what’s that?” exclaimed Gluck, jumping 
up. There was nobody there. He looked round tlie 



28 


THE KING OE THE GOLDEN lllVEK ; 


room, and under the table, and a great many times behind 
him, but there was certainly nobody there, and he sat 
down again at the window. This time he didn’t speak, 
but he couldn’t help thinking again that it would be very 
convenient if the river were really all gold. 

“Not at ^11, my boy,” said the same voice, louder than 
before. 

“ Bless me ! ” said Gluck again, “ what .is that ? ” He 
looked again into all the corners and cupboards, and 
then began turning round and round as fast as he could 
in the middle of the room, thinking there was somebody 
behind him, when the same voice struck again on his 
ear. It was singing now, very merrily, “ Lala-lira-la ; ” 
no words, only a soft running effervescent melody, some- 
thing like that of a kettle on the boil. Gluck looked 
out of the window. No, it was certainly in the house. 
Up stairs, and down stairs. No, it was certainly in that 
very room, coming in quicker time and clearer notes 
every moment. “Lala-lira-la.” All at once it struck 
Gluck that it sounded louder near the furnace. He 
ran to the opening and looked in; yes, he saw right, 
it seemed to be coming, not only out of the furnace, but 
out of the pot. He uncovered it, and ran back in a 
great fright, for the pot was certainly singing! He 
stood in the farthest corner of the room, with his hands 
up and his mouth open, for a minute or two, when the 
singing stopped, and the voice became clear and pro- 
nunciative. 


oil, THE BLACK BBOTHEKS. 


29 


“ Hollo ! ” said tlie voice. 

Gluck made no answer. 

“Hollo! Gluck, my boy,” said the pot again. 

Gluck summoned all his energies, walked straight up 
to the crucible, drew it out of the furnace, and looked 
in. The gold was all melted, and its surface as smooth 
and polished as a river; but instead of reflecting little 
Gluck’s head, as he looked in he saw meeting his glance 
from beneath the gold, the red nose and sharp eyes of 
his old friend of the mug, a thousand times redder and 
sharper than ever he had seen them in his life. 

“ Come, Gluck, my boy,” said the voice out of the pot 
again, “I’m all right; pour me out.” 

But Gluck was too much astonished to do anything 
of the kind. 

“ Pour me out, I say,” said the voice, rather gruffly. 

Still Gluck couldn’t move. 

“ Will you pour me out?” said the voice, passionately. 
“ I’m too hot.” 

By a violent effort, Gluck recovered the use of his 
limbs, took hold of the crucible and sloped it, so as to 
pour out the gold. But, instead of a liquid stream, 
there came out, first a pair of pretty little yellow legs, 
then some coat tails, then a pair of arms stuck a-kimbo, 
and finally the well-known head of his friend the mug; 
all which articles, uniting as they rolled out, stood up 
energetically on the floor, in the shape of a little golden 
dwarf, about a foot and a half high. 


30 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEK ; 


That’s right ! ” said the dwarf, stretching out first his 
legs, and then his arms, and then shaking his head up 
and down, and as far round as it would go, for five min- 
utes without stopping, apparently with the view of ascer- 
taining if he were quite correctly put together, while 



(lluck stood contemplating him in speechless amazement. 
He was dressed in a slashed doublet of spun gold, so 
fine in its texture, that the prismatic colours gleamed over 
it as if on a surface of mother of pearl ; and, over this 
brilliant doublet, his hair and beard fell full half way 


OK, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 

to the ground in waving curls, so exquisitely delicate, 
that Gluck could hardly tell where they ended ; they 
seemed to melt into air. The features of the face, how- 
ever, were by no means finished with the same delicacy ; 
they were rather coarse, slightly inclining to coppery in 
complexion, and indicative, in expression, of a very 
pertinacious and intractable disposition in their small 
proprietor. When the dwarf had finished his self-exami- 
nation, he turned his small sharp eyes full on Gluck, 
and stared at him deliberately for a minute or two. “ No, 
it wouldn’t, Gluck, my boy,” said the little man. 

This was certainly rather an abrupt and unconnected 
mode of commencing conversation. It might indeed 
be supposed to refer to the course of Gluck’s thoughts, 
which had first produced the dwarf’s observations out 
of the pot ; hut whatever it referred to, Gluck had no 
inclination to dispute the dictum. 

“Wouldn’t it, sir?” said Gluck, very mildly and sub- 
missively indeed. 

“No,” said the dwarf, conclusively, “ no, it wouldn’t.” 
And with that the dwarf pulled his cap hard over his 
brows, and took two turns, of three feet long, up and 
down the room, lifting his legs up very high, and setting 
them down very hard. This pause gave time for Gluck 
to collect his thoughts a little, and, seeing no great reason 
to view his diminutive visitor with dread, and feeling his 
curiosity overcome his amazement, he ventured on a ques- 
tion of peculiar delicacy. 


32 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN lilVEK ; 


“Pray, sir,” said Gluck, rather hesitatingly, “were you 
my mug? ” 

On which the little man turned sharp round, walked 
straight up to Gluck, and drew himself up to his full 
height. “I,” said the little man, “am the King of the 
Golden River.” Whereupon he turned about again, and 
took two more turns, some six feet long, in order to allow 
time for the consternation which this announcement pro- 
duced in his auditor to evaporate. After which, he again 
walked up to Gluck and stood still, as if expecting some 
comment on his communication. 

Gluck determined to say something at all events. “ I 
hope your Majesty is very well,” said Gluck. 

“ Listen ! ” said the little man, deigning no reply to 
this polite inquiry. “I am the King of what you mor- 
tals call the Golden River. The shape you saw me in, 
was owing to the malice of a stronger king, from whose 
enchantments you have this instant freed me. What I 
have seen of you, and your conduct to your wicked 
brothers, renders me willing to serve you ; therefore, 
attend to what I tell you. Whoever shall climb to the 
top of that mountain from which you see the Golden 
River issue, and shall cast into the stream at its source, 
three drops of holy water, for him, and for him only, the 
river shall turn to gold. But no one failing in his first, 
can succeed in a second attempt; and if any one shall 
cast unholy water into the river, it will overwhelm him, 
and he will become a black stone.” So saying, the King 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


33 


of the Golden River turned away and deliberately walked 
into the centre of the hottest flame of the furnace. His 
figure became red, white, transparent, dazzling, — a blaze 
of intense light, — rose, trembled, and disappeared. The 
King of the Golden River had evaporated. 

“ Oh ! ” cried poor Gluck, running to look up the chim- 
ney after him ; “ Oh, dear, dear, dear me ! My mug ! 
my mug ! my mug ! ” 



34 


THE K1]NG OF THE GOLDEK raVEK ; 


CHAPTER III. 

How Mr. Hans set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein. 

HE King of the Golden 
River had hardly made 
the extraordinary exit 
related in the last chap- 
ter, before Hans and 
Schwartz came roaring 
into the house, very 
savagely drunk. The 
discovery of the total 
loss of their last piece 
of plate had the effect 
of sobering them just 
enough to enable them 
to stand over Gluck, beating him very steadily for a 
quarter of an hour; at the expiration of which period 
they dropped into a couple of chairs, and requested to 
know what he had got to say for himself. Gluck told 
them his story, of which, of course, they did not believe 
a word. They beat him again, till their arms were tired, 
and staggered to bed. In the morning, however, the 
steadiness with which he adhered to his story obtained 



OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


35 


t 


him some degree of credence ; the immediate consequence 
of which was, that the two brothers, after wrangling a 



long time on the knotty question, which of them should 
try his fortune first, drew their swords and began fight- 
ing. The noise of the fray alarmed the neighbours, who, 
finding they could not pacify the combatants, sent for 
the constable. 

Hans, on hearing this, contrived to escape, and hid 
himself ; but Schwartz was taken before the magistrate, 
fined for breaking the peace, and, having drunk out his 
last penny the evening before, was thrown into prison 
till he should pay. 

When Hans heard this, he was much delighted, and 
determined to set out immediately for the Golden River. 
How to get the holy water, was the question. He went 
to the priest, but the priest could not give any holy 
water to so abandoned a character. So Hans went to 
vespers in the evening for the first time in his life, and, 
under pretence of crossing himself, stole a cupful, and 
returned home in triumph. 


36 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN lilVEK ; 


Next morning lie got up before the sun rose, put the 
holy water into a strong flask, and two bottles of wine 
and some meat in a basket, slung them over his back, 
took his alpine staff in his hand, and set off for the 
mountains. 



On his way out of the town he had to pass the prison, 
and as he looked in at the windows, whom should he see 
but Schwartz himself peeping out of the bars, and looking 
very disconsolate. 

“Good morning, brother,” said Hans; “have you any 
message for the King of the Golden River ? ” 

Schwartz gnashed his teeth with rage, and shook the 
bars with all his strength ; but Hans only laughed at him, 
and advising him to make himself comfortable till he 
came back again, shouldered his basket, shook the bottle 
of holy water in Schwartz’s face till it frothed again, and 
marched off in the highest spirits in the world. ' 

It was, indeed, a morning that might have made any 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


37 


one happy, even with no Golden River to seek for. Level 
lines of dewy mist lay stretched along the valley, out of 
which rose the massy mountains — their lower cliffs in 
pale grey shadow, hardly distinguishable from the floating 
vapour, but gradually ascending till they caught the sun- 
light, which ran in sharp touches of ruddy colour, along 
the angular crags, and pierced, in long level rays, through 
their fringes of spear-like pine. Far above, shot up red 
splintered masses of castellated rock, jagged and shivered 
into myriads of fantastic forms, with here and there a 
streak of sunlit snow, traced down their chasms like a line 
of forked lightning ; and, far beyond, and far above all 
these, fainter than the morning cloud, but purer and 
changeless, slept, in the blue sky, the utmost peaks of the 
eternal snow. 

The Golden River, which sprang from one of the lower 
and snowless elevations, was now nearly in shadow; all 
but the uppermost jets of spray, which rose like slow 
smoke above the undulating line of the cataract, and 
floated away in feeble wreaths upon the morning wind. 

On this object, and on this alone, Hans’ eyes and 
thoughts were fixed; forgetting the distance he had to 
traverse, he set off at an imprudent rate of walking, 
which greatly exhausted him before he had scaled the 
first range of the green and low hills. He was, moreover, 
surprised, on surmounting them, to find that a large 
glacier, of whose existence, notwithstanding his previous 
knowledge of the mountains, he had been absolutely 


38 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEK ; 


ignorant, lay between him and the source of the (xolden 
River. He entered on it with the boldness of a practised 
mountaineer; jet he thought he had never traversed so 
strange or so dangerous a glacier in his life. The ice was 
excessively slippery, and out of all its chasms came wild 
sounds of gushing water; not monotonous or low, but 
changeful and loud, rising occasionally into drifting pas- 
sages of wild melody, then breaking off into short melan- 
choly tones, or sudden shrieks, resembling those of human 
voices in distress or pain. The ice was broken into 
thousands of confused shapes, but none, Hans thought, 
like the ordinary forms of splintered ice. There seemed 
a curious expression about all their outlines — a perpetual 
resemblance to living features, distorted and scornful. 
Myriads of deceitful shadows, and lurid liglits, played 
and floated about and through the pale blue pinnacles, 
dazzling and confusing the sight of the traveller ; while 
his ears grew dull and his head giddy with the constant 
gush and roar of the concealed waters. These painful 
circumstances increased upon him as he advanced ; the 
ice crashed and yawned into fresh chasms at his feet, 
tottering spires nodded around him, and fell thundering 
across his path ; and though he had repeatedly faced these 
dangers on the most terrific glaciers, and in the wildest 
weather, it was with a new and oppressive feeling of panic 
terror that he leaped the last chasm, and flung himself, 
exhausted and shuddering, on the firm turf of the 
mountain. 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


89 


He had been compelled to abandon his basket of food, 
which became a perilous incumbrance on the glacier, and 
had now no means of refreshing himself but by breaking 
off and eating some of the pieces of ice. This, however, 
relieved his thirst; an hour’s repose recruited his hardy 
frame, and with the indomitable spirit of avarice, he re- 
sumed his laborious journey. 

His way now lay straight up a ridge of bare red rocks, 

without a blade of grass to ease the foot, or a projecting 

angle to afford an inch 

of shade from the south 

sun. It was past noon, 

and the rays beat in- 
tensely upon the steep 
path, while the whole 
atmosphere was motion- 
less, and penetrated with 




heat. Intense thirst was soon added to the bodily 
fatigue with which Hans was now afflicted; glance after 


40 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEK ; 


glance lie cast on the flask of water which hung at his 
belt. “ Three drops are enough,” at last thought he ; 
“I may, at least, cool my lips with it.” 

He opened the flask, and was raising it to his lips, 
when his eye fell on an object lying on the rock beside 
him ; he thought it moved. It was a small dog, appar- 
ently in the last agony of death from thirst. Its tongue 
was out, its jaws dry, its limbs extended lifelessly, and a 
swarm of black ants were crawling about its lips and 
throat. Its eye moved to the bottle which Hans held 
in his hand. He raised it, drank, spurned the animal 
with his foot, and passed on. And he did not know 
how it was, but he thought that a strange shadow had 
suddenly come across the blue sky. 

The path became steeper and more rugged every 
moment ; and the high hill air, instead of refreshing him, 
seemed to throw his blood into a fever. The noise of the 
hill cataracts sounded like mockery in his ears ; they were 
all distant, and his thirst increased every moment. An- 
other hour passed, and he again looked down to the flask 
at his side ; it was half empty ; but there was much more 
than three drops in it. He stopped to open it, and again, 
as he did so, something moved in the path above him. It 
was a fair child, stretched nearly lifeless on the rock, its 
breast heaving with thirst, its eyes closed, and its lips 
parched and burning. Hans eyed it deliberately, drank, 
and passed on. And a dark grey cloud came over the 
sun, and long, snake-like shadows crept up along the 


OK, THE BLACK BKOTHEKS. 


41 


mountain sides. Hans struggled on. The sun was sink- 
ing, but its descent seemed to bring no coolness ; the 
leaden weight ot the dead air pressed upon his brow and 
heart, but the goal was near. He saw the cataract of the 
Golden Kiver springing from the hill-side, scarcely five 
hundred feet above him. He paused for a moment to 
breathe, and sprang on to complete his task. 

At this instant a faint cry fell on his ear. He turned, 
and saw a grey-haired old man extended on the rocks. 
His eyes were sunk, his features deadly pale, and gath- 
ered into an expression of despair. “ Water ! ” he 
stretched his arms to Hans, and cried feebly, “ W ater ! 
I am dying.” 

“ I have none,” replied Hans ; “ thou hast had thy 
share of life.” He strode over the prostrate body, and 
darted on. And a flash of blue lightning rose out of 
the East, shaped like a sword; it shook thrice over the 
whole heaven, and left it dark wdth one heavy, impene- 
trable shade. The sun was setting ; it plunged towards 
the horizon like a red-hot ball. 

The roar of the Golden River rose on Hans’ ear. He 
stood at the brink of the chasm through which it ran.- 
Its waves were filled with the red glory of the sunset: 
they shook their crests like tongues of fire, and flashes 
of bloody light gleamed along their foam. Their sound 
came mightier and mightier on his senses; his brain grew 
giddy with the prolonged thunder. Shuddering he drew 
the flask from his girdle, and hurled it into the centre of 


42 THE KING OF THE GOLDEN lilVEK ; 

the torrent. As he did so, an icy chill shot through his 
limbs : he staggered, shrieked, and fell. The waters 
closed over his cry. And the moaning of the river rose 
wildly into the night, as it gushed over 



The Black Stone. 


OK, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


43 


CHAPTER IV. 

How Mr. Schwartz set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein. 



OOR little Gluck waited very 
anxiously alone in the house, 
for Hans’ .return. Finding 
he did not come back, he was 
terribly frightened, and went 
and told Schwartz in the 
prison, all that had happened. 
Then Schwartz was very much 
pleased, and said that Hans 
must certainly have been 
turned into a black stone, and 
he should have all the gold to 
himself. But Gluck was very 
When he got up in the morn- 


ing, there was no bread in the house, nor any money ; so 
Gluck went, and hired himself to another goldsmith, 
and he worked so hard, and so neatly, and so long every 
day, that he soon got money enough together, to pay his 
brother’s fine, and he went, and gave it all to Schwartz, 
and Schwartz got out of prison. Then Schwartz was 


44 


THE KING OF THE (iOLDEN IIIVEK ; 


quite pleased, and said lie should have some of the gold 
of the river. But Gluck only begged he would go and 
see what had become of Hans. 

Now when Schwartz had heard that Hans had stolen 
the holy water, he thought to himself that such a pro- 
ceeding might not be considered altogether correct by 
the King of the Golden River, and determined to manage 
matters better. So he took some more of Gluck’s money, 
and went to a bad priest, who gave him some holy water 
very readily for it. Then Schwartz was sure it was all 
quite right. So Schwartz got up early in the morning 
before the sun rose, and took some bread and wine, in a 
basket, and put his holy water in a flask, and set off for 
the mountains. Like his brother he was much surprised 
at the sight of the glacier, and had great difficulty in cross- 
ing it, even after leaving his basket behind him. The 
day was cloudless, but not bright: there was a heavy 
purple haze hanging over the sky, and the hills looked 
lowering and gloomy. And as Schwartz climbed the 
steep rock path, the thirst came upon him, as it had upon 
his brother, until he lifted his flask to his lips to drink. 
Then he saw the fair child lying near him on the rocks, 
and it cried to him, and moaned for water. “Water 
indeed,” said Schwartz; “I haven’t half enough for 
myself,” and passed on. And as he went he thought 
the sunbeams grew more dim, and he saw a low bank 
of black cloud rising out of the West; and, when he 
had climbed for another hour, the thirst overcame him 


DR, THE HLACK BROTHEKH, 


45 





Mliki.. 


again, and he would 
have drunk. Then 
he saw the old man 
lying before him on 
the path, and heard 
him cry out for 
water. “Water, in- 
deed,” said Schwartz, 

“I haven’t half 
enough for myself,” 
and on he went. 

Then again the 
light seemed to fade 
from before his eyes, 
and he looked up, 
and, behold, a mist, 
of the colour of blood, 
had come over the 
sun ; and the bank of 
black cloud had risen 
very higli, and its edges were 
tossing and tumbling like the 
waves of the angry sea. And they cast 
long shadows, which flickered over Schwartz’s path. 

Then Schwartz climbed for another hour, and again 
his thirst returned ; and as he lifted his flask to his lips, 
he thought he saw his brother Hans lying exhausted on 
the path before him, and, as he gazed, the figure stretched 



4G THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVER ; 

its arms to him, and cried for water. “ Ha, ha,” laughed 
Schwartz, “ are you there ? remember the prison bars, 
my boy. Water, indeed! do you suppose I carried it all 
the way up here for you ? ” And he strode over the fig- 
ure ; yet, as he passed, he thought he saw a strange 
expression of mockery about its lips. And, when he had 
gone a few yards farther, he looked back ; but the figure 
was not there. 

And a sudden horror came over Schwartz, he knew 
not why ; but the thirst for gold prevailed over his fear, 
and he rushed on. And the bank of black cloud rose to 
the zenith, and out of it came bursts of spiry lightning, 
and waves of darkness seemed to heave and float between 
their flashes, over the whole heavens. And the sky where 
the sun was setting was all level, and like a lake of blood ; 
and a strong wind came out of that sky, tearing its crim- 
son clouds into fragments, and scattering them far into 
the darkness. And when Schwartz stood by the brink 
of the Golden River, its waves were blaek, like thunder 
clouds, but their foam was like fire ; and the roar of the 
waters below, and the thunder above met, as he cast the 
flask into the stream. And, as he did so, the lightning 
glared in his eyes, and the earth gave way beneath him, 
and the waters closed over his cry. And the moaning 
of the river rose wildly into the night, as it gushed over 
the 


Two Black Stones. 


OK, THE BLACK BROTHEKS. 


47 


CHAPTER V, 


How Little Gluck set off on an Expedition to the Golden 
River, and how he prospered therein ; with other matters 

OF INTEREST. 


'HEN Gluck found that Schwartz 
did not come back, he was very- 
sorry, and did not know what to 
do. He had no money, and was 
obliged to go and hire himself 
again to the goldsmith, who 
worked him very hard, and 
gave him very little money. 
So, after a month or two, 
Gluck grew tired, and made 
up his mind to go and try his fortune with the Golden 
River. “ The little king looked very kind,” thought he. 
“I don’t think he will turn me into a black stone.” So 
he went to the priest, and the priest gave him some holy 
water as soon as he asked for it. Then Gluck took some 
bread in his basket, and the bottle of water, and set off 
very early for the mountains. 

If the glacier had occasioned a great deal of fatigue 
to his brothers, it was twenty times worse for him, who 



48 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN lUVKE ; 


was neither so strong nor so practised on the mountains. 
He had several very bad falls, lost his basket and bread, 
and was very much frightened at the strange noises under 
the ice. He lay a long time to rest on the grass, after he 
had got over, and began to climb the hill just in the hot- 



test part of the day. When he had climbed for an hour, 
he got dreadfully thirsty, and was going to drink like 
his brothers, when he saw an old man coming down the 
path above him, looking very feeble, and leaning on a staff. 
“ My son,” said the old man, “ I am faint with thirst, 
give me some of that water.” Then Gluck looked at 
him, and when he saw that he was pale and weary, he 
gave him the water ; “ Only pray don’t drink it all,” said 
Gluck. But the old man drank a great deal, and gave 
him back the bottle two-thirds empty. Then he bade 
him good speed, and Gluck went on again merrily. And 


oil, THE BLACK BlIOTHEBS. 


49 


the path became easier to his feet, and two or three blades 
of grass appeared upon it, and some grasshoppers began 
singing on tlie bank beside it; and Gluck thought he 
had never heard such merry singing. 

Then he went on for another hour, and the thirst in- 
creased on him so that he thought he should be forced 
to drink. But, as he raised the flask, he saw a little child 
lying panting by the road-side, and it cried out piteously 
for water. Then Gluck struggled with himself, and de- 
termined to bear the thirst a little longer; and he put 
the bottle to the child’s lips, and it drank it all but a 
few drops. Then it smiled on him, and got up, and 
ran down the hill ; and Gluck looked after it, till it 
became as small as a little star, and then turned and 
began climbing again. And then there were all kinds 
of sweet flowers growing on the rocks, bright green moss, 
with pale pink starry flowers, and soft belled gentians, 
more blue than the sky at its deepest, and pure white 
transparent lilies. And crimson and purple butterflies 
darted hither and thither, and the sky sent down such 
pure light, that Gluck had never felt so happ}^ in his 
life. 

Yet, when he had climbed for another hour, his thirst 
became intolerable again; and, when he looked at his 
bottle, he saw that there were only five or six drops left 
in it, and he could not venture to drink. And, as he 
was hanging the flask to his belt again, he saw a little 
dog lying on the rocks, gasping for breath — just as Hans 


50 


THE KING OE THE GOLDEN KIVEli ; 


had seen it on 
the day of his as- 
cent. And Gluck 
stoppedandlooked 
at it, and then at fMIB 
the Golden River, 
not five hundred 
yards above him ; 
and he thought of 
the dwarf’s words, 

“ that no one could 
succeed, except in 
his first attempt”; 
and he tried to 
pass the dog, but 
it whined pite- 
ously, and Gluck 
stopped again, 

“Poor beastie,” 
said Gluck, “it’ll 
be dead when I 
come down again, if I don’t 
lielp it.” Then he looked 
closer and closer at it, and 
its eye turned on him so 
mournfully, that he could 

not stand it. “ Confound the King and his gold too,” 
said Gluck ; and he opened the flask, and poured all the 
water into the dog’s mouth. 



OK, THE BLACK BKOTHEKS. 


51 


The dog sprang up and stood on its hind legs. Its 
tail disappeared, its ears became long, longer, silky, 
golden ; its nose became very red, its eyes became very 
twinkling; in three seconds the dog was gone, and before 
Gluck stood his old acquaintance, the King of the Golden 
River. 

“Thank you,” said the monarch; “but don’t be 
frightened, it’s all right ; ” for Gluck showed manifest 
symptoms of consternation at this unlooked-for reply to 
his last observation. “ Why didn’t you come before,” 
continued the dwarf, “instead of sending me those ras- 
cally brothers of yours, for me to have the trouble of 
turning into stones? Very hard stones they make too.” 

“ Oh dear me ! ” said Gluck, “ have you really been so 
cruel ? ” 

“ Cruel I ” said the dwarf, “ they poured unholy water 
into my stream : do you suppose I’m going to allow 
that?” 

“Why,” said Gluck, “I am sure, sir — your majesty, 
I mean — they got the water out of the church font.” 

“Very probably,” replied the dwarf; “but,” and his 
countenance grew stern as he spoke, “the water which 
has been refused to the cry of the weary and dying, is 
unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint in 
heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of 
mercy is holy, though it had been defiled with corpses.” 

So saying, the dwarf stooped and plucked a lily that 
grew at his feet. On its white leaves there hung three 


52 


THE KING OF THE GOLDEN KIVEK ; 


drops of clear dew. And the dwarf shook them into 
the flask which Gluck held in his hand. “ Cast these into 
the river,” he said, “ and descend on the other side of the 
mountains into the Treasure Valley. And so good 
speed.” 

As he spoke, the figure of the dwarf became indistinct. 
The playing colours of his robe formed themselves into a 
prismatic mist of dewy light: he stood for an instant 
veiled with them as with thp belt of a broad rainbow. 
The colours grew faint, the mist rose into the air ; the 
monarch had evaporated. 

And Gluck dimed to the brink of the Golden River, 
and its waves were as clear as crystal, and as brilliant as 
the sun. And, when he cast the three drops of dew into 
the stream, there opened where they fell, a small circular 
whirlpool, into which the waters descended with a musical 
noise. 

Gluck stood watching it for some time, very much dis- 
appointed, because not only the river was not turned into 
gold, but its waters seemed much diminished in quantity. 
Yet he obeyed his friend the dwarf, and descended the 
other side of the mountains, towards the Treasure Valley; 
and, as he went, he thought he heard the noise of water- 
working its wa}^ under the ground. And, wlien he came 
in sight of the Treasure Valley, behold, a river, like the 
Golden River, was springing from a new cleft of the rocks 
above it, and was flowing in innumerable streams among 
the dry heaps of red sand. 


OR, THE BLACK BROTHERS. 


53 


And as Gluck gazed, fresh grass sprang beside the new 
streams, and creeping plants grew, and climbed among 
the moistening soil. Young flowers opened suddenly 
along the river sides, as stars leap out when twilight is 
deepening, and thickets of myrtle, and tendrils of vine, 
cast lengthening shadows over the valley as they grew. 
And thus the Treasure Valley became a garden again, and 
the inheritance, which had been lost by cruelty, was re- 
gained by love. 

And Gluck went, and dwelt in the valley, and the poor 
were never driven from his door : so that his barns be- 
came full of corn, and his house of treasure. And, for 
him, the river had, according to the dwarf’s promise, 
become a River of Gold. 

And, to this day, the inhabitants of the valley point out 
the place where the three drops of holy dew were cast 
into the stream, and trace the course of the Golden 
River under the ground, until it emerges in the Treasure 
Valley. And at the top of the cataract of the Golden 
River, are still to be seen two black stones, round 
which the waters howl mournfully every day at sunset ; 
and these stones are still called by the people of the 
valley 

The Black Brothers. 


Pkesswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston. 




I 



WENTWOETH & SEED’S 


FIRST STEPS IN NUMBER. 


A PRIMARY ARITHMETIC. 


Feom Pkeface to the Teacher’s Edition. 

The object of this book is to provide teachers with a record of the 
work done in number in the primary schools of to-day. 

There has been no attempt at novelty in the subject-matter, in the 
arrangement of work, or in the manner of presentation. The whole is 
on a constructive basis. Numbers are chief; processes subordinate. 
What has been found to be more easily understood precedes the more 
difficult, without respect to its scientific relation. Fractions present no 
greater difficulty than wholes, so they accompany the teaching of inte- 
gral numbers from the beginning. The law of dependence has been 
carefully observed, although at first glance the arrangement may not 
seem to warrant this assertion. 

The object of every teacher is so to present numbers that the mind 
of the child may grasp firmly the facts concerning .them, and hold 
these facts tenaciously by the law of association. Success lies in 
requiring the child to show what he is talking about, and in following 
the “ step by step ” rule. The book illustrates these two principles. 
It abounds in examples which have not before appeared in print, and 
which are calculated to interest the child from their close connection 
with his varied experiences. It gives suggestions for versatility of 
drill, and illustrates in detail the teaching of a hundred topics. 

It is expected that the work to the number ten will be taken in 
one year, the work to twenty in another year, and the remainder of 
the course outlined in the book will be covered in two years more. 

A child’s booh accompanies this edition, whieh the child 
may use with great advantage after he becomes acquainted 
with figures. 

It is hoped that this book will find a welcome among all persons 
interested in leading children by easy and sure paths to a knowledge 
of numbers. 

GINN Sc COMPANY, Publishers, 

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 


WENTWORTH’S 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL ARITHMETIC, 

350 Pages, 

Is designed to give pupils of the grammar-school age an intelligent 
knowledge of the subject and a moderate power of independent thought# 

Whether Arithmetic is studied for mental discipline or for practical 
mastery over the every-day problems of common life, mechanical pro- 
cesses and routine methods are of no value. 

Pupils can be trained to logical habits of mind and stimulated to a 
high degree of intellectual energy by solving problems adapted to their 
capacities. They become practical arithmeticians, not by learning spe- 
cial business forms, but by founding their knowledge on reasoning which 
they fully comprehend, and by being so thoroughly exercised in logical 
analysis that they are independent of. arbitrary rules. 

This Arithmetic contains a great number of well-graded and progres- 
sive problems, made up for youths from ten to fourteen years of age. 
Definitions and explanations are made as brief and simple as possible. 
It is not intended that definitions should be committed to memory, but 
that they should be simply discussed by teacher and pupils. Every 
teacher, of course, will be at liberty to give better definitions, and to 
make a better presentation of methods, than those exhibited in the book. 

In short, the chief object in view will be gained if pupils are trained 
to solve the problems by neat and intelligent methods, and are kept free 
from set rules and formulas. 

A great many number-problems are given in the first pages of the 
book, so that the necessary facility and accuracy in computing under 
the four fundamental rules may be acquired ; as want of accuracy and 
rapidity in mere calculations distracts the attention which should be 
given to the investigation and correct statement of numerical exercises. 

The Appendix contains a short chapter on the Metric System, a chap- 
ter on Mensuration, and Miscellaneous Problems. The Metric System is 
treated here because the great majority of grammar-school pupils have 
no time for the subject, while those who have can as well learn the system 
at this stage of their progress as earlier. The chapter on Mensuration is 
suited to the ability of beginners. The intention is not to give a system 
of Geometry, but to render familiar those notions of Geometry that are 
indispensable for practical purposes. The whole subject has been illus . 
trated and enforced by numerous practical examples. 

GINN & COMPANY, Publishers, 

Boston, New York, and Chicag-o. 


ELEMENTARY LESSONS 

IN ENGLISH. 


These admirable books harmonize and utilize to a sur- 
prising degree most, if-not all, of the practical advantages 
of conflicting theories. 

— Dr. G. STANLEY HALL, Johns Hopkins University- 


Their universal use would raise many schoolmasters to 
the rank of teachers. 


— State Supt. M. A. NEWELL, Md 


Need only their presence to recommend them. 

— F. W. PARKER, Prin. Cook Co. Normal School, III. 


The brightest and most practical book on the subject 
vet published. 

^ ^ —Supt. J. O. WILSON, Washington, D.C. 


None more suggestive and helpful to the young teacher. 

— Supt. GEO. HOWLAND, Chicago, III. 

Better than any other. 

— Supt. JOHN B. PEASLEE, Cincinnati. 


The only 
schools. 


books that meet the wants of our elementary 
— E. V. DE GRAFF, Institute Conductor 


GINN & COMPANY, Publishers, 

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